September 28th 2003 hurricane Jaun tore through parts of Nova Scotia hitting hard in Halifax. Weather forecasters warned the public the hurricane was coming but most people didn’t take the warning seriously. Present generations had never experienced a hurricane. Certainly it couldn’t be any worse than many wind storms experienced here. One restaurant owner even planned a hurricane party at his water front establishment! Few people boarded up windows or moved and secured pleasure boats. Others planned to ride the surf so they thought. One American visitor in the area was horrified having experience with hurricanes.
Hurricane Jaun hit with vengence tossing boats around like toys, bashing wharfs, breaking windows in water front buildings and wrecking everything in side. The very restaurant who wanted a party was plummeted. Trees were down all over but especially in the largest park in the city. Power was off several days. As for emphasis another hurricane White Jaun hit in the winter. Nothing like a hurricane when it is snowing to wake people up to realize the forces of nature.
Fast forward five years to the day, September 28th. 2008 we were hit with hurricane Kyle. Again we were warned it was coming but what a different response than five years ago! Everyone listened even though this storm would be possibly down graded to a tropical storm by the time it reached Nova Scotia. Windows were boarded up, boats moved or secured, supplies on hand in anticipation of power outages and everything put away that could blow away. Then everyone waited.
Friday there was wind and rain from another system. It rained more Saturday. It was just a prelude.
I sat by the bay window in our living room watching the darkening skies on Sunday .The wind died out and it was cloudy dark. The feeling was an eerrie calm before the storm. Stillness can be deafening at times. We listened to the radio through the evening as winds increased.
Hurricane Kyle made land fall 60 miles south of Yarmouth in Shelburne. Trees and wires were down and one building under construction was flattened. There were 14000 homes some with out power four days in southren Nova Scotia.
As Kyle continued towards  Yarmouth it lost some of its punch. The storm veered west just slightly hitting Yarmouth with much less force than Shelburne. It knocked down some trees and wires and rid trees of their fall leaves.
As we waited in Short Beach for the hurricane it never reached us! Three miles up the road trees and wires  were down but our trees didn’t even lose their leaves! Our lights stayed on and only flickered. The wind and rain was no worse than we have had many other times. We are nine miles from town. Hurricane Kyle veered just slightly enough that it missed us.
The storm headed 60 miles north to Digby Neck and then on to New Brunswick. It was finally down graded to a tropical storm and blew itself out. The good thing of all of this was almost everyone was prepared for what ever was coming. The fact the storm wasn’t as bad as expected hasn’t lessened the response of people now when they hear a warning.
After hurricane Jaun people here had learned to listen and take storm warnings seriously before ever knowing about a hurricane Kyle . ” Better to learn late than never.”
